Every New Testament lesson for children comes back to one question: who is Jesus? The miracles show His power, the parables show how He thinks, the people He met show how He treats us, and Easter shows what He came to do. A coloring page about Jesus gives a child ten quiet minutes to sit with one small piece of that answer.
This guide is for Sunday school teachers, homeschool parents and families who want New Testament lessons built around Bible story coloring pages. Instead of a random stack of pictures, you will get four lesson groups that make sense together, a one-page lesson card you can reuse every week, a counting lesson for preschoolers using the feeding of the 5,000, and a Holy Week plan that ends at the empty tomb.
Quick picks for New Testament coloring lessons
| Product | Best for | Price | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ark & Star Bible Story Coloring Book for Kids | 20 New Testament stories from Bethlehem to Paul’s shipwreck | $4.99 | View |
| Hop to Ten Color by Number for Kids | Counting practice for preschool Bible lessons | $4.49 | View |
| Sunrise Basket Easter Coloring and Activity Book | Ten Easter story pages for Holy Week | $4.99 | View |
Four kinds of New Testament lessons
Grouping stories by type helps children see patterns. After three miracle lessons, a 7-year-old starts to notice that Jesus keeps doing things nobody else can do. That is the point.
1. Miracles: Jesus has power
The wedding at Cana, calming the storm, feeding the 5,000, walking on water, raising Lazarus. These stories are visual and dramatic, so they color well. The big idea for each: Jesus can do what no one else can.
2. Parables: Jesus tells stories
The Good Samaritan, the lost sheep, the prodigal son, the wise and foolish builders. Kids love that Jesus was a storyteller. The big idea: Jesus used everyday pictures to show what God is like.
3. People Jesus met: Jesus cares
The fishermen, Zacchaeus, the children brought to Him, Mary and Martha. These are about relationships. The big idea: Jesus welcomes everyone, including the ones others push away.
4. The church begins: Jesus keeps working
Pentecost, Peter and John at the temple gate, Paul’s journeys and shipwreck. Children often stop at Easter, but the story keeps going in Acts. The big idea: Jesus sends His followers to tell everyone.
Here is how a parable lesson can look in practice. For the lost sheep, cut ten paper sheep from card, tell the kids they stand for a flock of a hundred, and hide one under a chair before class starts. Read Luke 15:3 to 7, then send them hunting. When the missing sheep turns up, everyone cheers, and you have just acted out “joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.” Then they color the shepherd carrying the sheep home on his shoulders.
A term might run four miracles, four parables, four people stories and two from Acts, with Easter week dropped in wherever the calendar puts it.
A one-page lesson card you can reuse
Write this on an index card and keep it in your Bible. It works for every New Testament story, every week, and takes the guesswork out of planning.
- Hook (2 minutes). One question linked to the child’s life. “Have you ever been really hungry?”
- Read (4 minutes). The passage, or a children’s Bible retelling for under-6s.
- Color (10 minutes). The story page. Chat while they work.
- Do (4 minutes). One small action: count, act out, find the verse, draw what happened next.
- Pray (1 minute). One sentence of thanks tied to the story.
Twenty minutes, five steps, the same every week. Kids like knowing what comes next, and volunteers can pick it up with no training.
Worked example: Jesus calms the storm
Hook: “What is the loudest storm you remember?” Read Mark 4:35 to 41. Color the boat and the waves while you ask how the disciples felt. Do: everyone stands up, makes wind and wave noises, and then on “Peace, be still” (Mark 4:39) the room goes silent. Kids adore this. Pray: “Thank you, Jesus, that you are bigger than storms.”
That lesson card only works if the page matches the story and the reference is easy to find. A set where every page names the story and the chapter saves you looking it up each week.
Ark & Star Bible Story Coloring Book for Kids
Price: $4.99 | Best for: weekly New Testament lessons, ages 3 to 9
Twenty New Testament pages, numbered 21 to 40, cover Jesus Is Born, Fishers of Men, the Wedding at Cana, Jesus Calms the Storm, Feeding the 5,000, the Good Samaritan, Zacchaeus, Lazarus, Palm Sunday, He Is Risen, Pentecost and Paul’s Shipwreck. Each page gives the chapter to read and a short KJV memory verse. US Letter and A4 PDFs come with a Sunday School Pack of 12 lesson sheets. Print story 27, Jesus Calms the Storm, for the worked example above.
A counting lesson for preschoolers: five loaves, two fish
The feeding of the 5,000 is perfect for little ones because it has numbers built in. John 6:9 mentions “five barley loaves, and two small fishes,” and preschoolers love to count them.
Here is a 15-minute lesson for 3 to 5-year-olds:
- Count real things. Put five crackers and two fish-shaped snacks on a plate. Count them together. “Is that enough for everyone in this room?”
- Tell the story. A boy shared his lunch, Jesus thanked God and broke the bread, and everyone ate. There were twelve baskets left over.
- Color and count. Color the story page, then count the loaves and fish in the picture.
- Number practice. Finish with a simple color-by-number page using numbers 1 to 10. It keeps the counting going and gives early finishers something to do.
- Share the snack. Split the crackers between everyone. A small, tasty echo of the story.
A 4-year-old who counts “one, two” fish and then watches the plate get shared has learned something about generosity that sticks. Parents who homeschool can drop this into a math morning; our homeschool schedule examples show how to blend subjects like this in a short day.
Hop to Ten Color by Number for Kids
Price: $4.49 | Best for: preschool counting alongside Bible lessons
Fifty-two color by number pictures using only the numbers 1 to 10, with big spaces, big numbers and a crayon key with simple color names. The book moves from 1 to 5, to 6 to 10, to mixed numbers and simple sums, with seasonal pages and answer keys, in US Letter and A4 PDFs. It is not a Bible book, but it pairs well with number-rich stories. Print an early 1 to 5 page for the five loaves lesson.
Talking points for the people Jesus met
These lessons are about how Jesus treats people, so the chat while coloring matters more than the picture. A few prompts that open kids up:
- The fishermen (Matthew 4:18 to 22): “What would you leave behind to follow Jesus?” Expect “my bike.” That is a perfectly good answer.
- Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1 to 10): “Why did people not like Zacchaeus? Why did Jesus go to his house anyway?”
- The children (Mark 10:13 to 16): “The disciples tried to send the kids away. What did Jesus say?” Read verse 14 slowly.
- Lazarus (John 11): “Jesus cried when His friend died. What does that tell us about Him?” Verse 35 is the shortest in the Bible, “Jesus wept,” and kids love knowing that.
Let the answers wander. A child who says Zacchaeus was lonely has hit on something real.
Lessons from Acts kids rarely hear
Many children’s programs end at Easter. That leaves kids thinking the story stopped there. Two or three lessons from Acts show that Jesus’ work carried on through ordinary people.
Pentecost (Acts 2)
Wind, flames over people’s heads, and the disciples suddenly speaking in languages they never learned. Give kids orange, red and yellow for the flames. Ask, “Why do you think God sent His Spirit?”
Paul’s shipwreck (Acts 27)
A storm, a ship breaking up and 276 people swimming or floating to shore on planks. Everybody survived. Kids who loved the storm on Galilee will love this one too. Ask, “How is this like when Jesus calmed the storm? How is it different?”
These lessons are also a good bridge for older kids, aged 9 or 10, who are starting to read the Bible on their own. If you want to start that habit as a family, our Bible reading plan for beginners sets a pace that grown-ups and older children can both keep.
Holy Week, one page a day
Easter week is the heart of the New Testament, and it is easier to teach in small daily pieces than in one big lesson on Sunday morning. Here is a plan for families with children aged 4 to 9:
| Day | Story | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Palm Sunday | Jesus rides into Jerusalem | Matthew 21:1 to 11 |
| Monday | Jesus with the children | Matthew 21:14 to 16 |
| Thursday | The Last Supper | Luke 22:14 to 20 |
| Thursday night | Praying in the garden | Luke 22:39 to 46 |
| Friday | The cross | Luke 23:33 to 46 |
| Sunday | The empty tomb | Matthew 28:1 to 10 |
Keep Friday’s page simple and short, and for the youngest, read Sunday’s story straight after so the day does not end on the cross. On Easter morning, lay all the pages in a row and let your child walk you through the week. The look on their face when they reach the empty tomb, colored in bright yellow, is pure joy.
Sunrise Basket Easter Coloring and Activity Book
Price: $4.99 | Best for: Holy Week lessons at home or church
A He Is Risen section of ten Easter story pages: Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, praying in the garden, the cross, the empty tomb, the angel at the tomb, Mary meets Jesus, the Lamb of God, Jesus with the children and Easter lilies, each with a short KJV verse. The book adds 30 spring pages, toddler pages, an egg hunt and puzzles, plus a classroom pack, in US Letter and A4 PDFs. Print the Palm Sunday page to start your week.
Running these lessons with a class
Everything above works at a kitchen table with two kids. A Sunday school room with 14 children needs a few tweaks.
- Prep the “Do” step for numbers. Acting out the storm with 14 kids is loud. Assign roles: four are waves, four are wind, the rest are disciples in the boat. Chaos with a plan.
- Use a helper for the youngest table. One teen or adult sitting with the 3 and 4-year-olds keeps the coloring and the chat going while you lead the older group.
- Name the pages first. Write names on every sheet before kids arrive. It saves five minutes and an argument.
- Keep one display board. Pin each week’s best three pages up, and rotate so every child gets a turn over the term.
- Send a note home. One line on the back of the page: “Today we learned about Zacchaeus. Ask me why Jesus went to his house.” Parents love it, and it keeps the conversation going at lunch.
Check the licence for any printable set before you copy it for a whole class. Some cover one teacher and one class, others are home use only.
Mistakes to avoid in New Testament lessons
- Only teaching miracles. They are exciting, but kids also need the parables and the quiet moments with people.
- Turning Jesus into a magician. Always link a miracle back to who He is, not just what He did.
- Stopping at Easter. Add Pentecost so kids see the story continues.
- Skipping the “Do” step. Acting, counting or drawing next scenes is where the lesson gets into their bones.
- Rushing the cross. Short is fine. Skipped is not. Kids need the whole story, gently told.
Frequently asked questions
What New Testament stories should I teach first?
Start with the Nativity, Jesus calming the storm and the lost sheep. They are short, vivid and easy for young children to retell.
How do I teach parables to young kids?
Color the main picture, then ask one question about what the story shows about God. Keep the explanation to a sentence or two.
Can I use Bible story coloring pages about Jesus for a whole term?
Yes. Twelve to fourteen lessons, grouped into miracles, parables, people and the early church, make a full term with Easter added in.
What is the best New Testament story for preschoolers?
Feeding the 5,000 is a favorite because it has counting, food and sharing, all things preschoolers understand.
Should kids learn about Acts as well as the gospels?
Yes. A few lessons from Acts, such as Pentecost and Paul’s shipwreck, show children that Jesus’ story carried on through His followers.
Your next step
Copy the five-step lesson card onto an index card tonight, pick one miracle for this week, and run it once at home or in class. When you are ready to plan the rest of the term, the Ark & Star Bible Story Coloring Book has twenty New Testament stories in order.